French: Adjectives have to agree in gender and number with
the noun they describe. French generally adds an -e for feminine, -s for
masculine plural and -es for feminine plural. However, there are many exceptions
to this rule.

Masculine

Feminine

Adjective

Add -e

brun

brune

brown

fatigué

fatiguée

tired

If it already ends in -e, add nothing

jeune

jeune

young

-x changes to -se

généreux

généreuse

generous

Exceptions:

faux

fausse

false

roux

rousse

red (hair)

doux

douce

sweet, soft

-il, -el, and -eil change to
-ille, -elle, and -eille

naturel

naturelle

natural

-et changes to -ète

inquiet

inquiète

worried

Exceptions:

muet

muette

silent

coquet

coquette

stylish

-en and -on change to
-enne and -onne

Italien

Italienne

Italian

-er changes to -ère

cher

chère

dear, expensive

-f changes to -ve

actif

active

active

-c changes to -che

blanc

blanche

white

Exceptions:

public

publique

public

grec

grecque

Greek

-g changes to -gue

long

longue

long

-eur changes to -euse if adjective
is derived from verb

menteur

menteuse

liar

-eur changes to -rice if adjective
is not same as verb

créateur

créatrice

creator

-eur changes to -eure with
adjectives of comparison

inférieur

inférieure

inferior

And a few completely irregular ones:

épais

épaisse

thick

favori

favorite

favorite

frais

fraîche

fresh, cool

Most adjectives are placed after the noun in French. A few adjectives
can be used before or after the noun, and the meaning changes accordingly.
When used before the noun, they take a figurative meaning; and
when used after, they take a literal meaning. The most common adjectives
below are placed before the noun. The five words in parentheses (bel,
fol, mol, nouvel, and vieil) are used before masculine singular
words beginning with a vowel or a silent h.

Masculine

Feminine

Adjective

Singular

Plural

Singular

Plural

beautiful

beau (bel)

beaux

belle

belles

good

bon

bons

bonne

bonnes

dear

cher

chers

chère

chères

crazy

fou (fol)

foux

folle

folles

nice

gentil

gentils

gentille

gentilles

big

grand

grands

grande

grandes

large

gros

gros

grosse

grosses

young

jeune

jeunes

jeune

jeunes

pretty

joli

jolis

jolie

jolies

long

long

longs

longue

longues

bad

mauvais

mauvais

mauvaise

mauvaises

better, best

meilleur

meilleurs

meilleure

meilleures

soft

mou (mol)

moux

molle

molles

new

nouveau (nouvel)

nouveaux

nouvelle

nouvelles

little

petit

petits

petite

petites

old

vieux (vieil)

vieux

vieille

vieilles

German: Adjectives in German are placed before the
noun, and they add certain endings depending on the case and if an article
precedes them or not:

Adjectives used after der words (Weak Endings)

the good wine

the good milk

the good bread

the good friends

Masculine

Feminine

Neuter

Plural

Nom.

der gute Wein

die gute Milch

das gute Brot

die guten Freunde

Acc.

den guten Wein

die gute Milch

das gute Brot

die guten Freunde

Dat.

dem guten Wein

der guten Milch

dem guten Brot

den guten Freunden

Gen.

des guten Weines

der guten Milch

des guten Brotes

der guten Freunde

Adjectives used after ein words (Weak Endings)

no good wine

no good milk

no good bread

no good friends

Masculine

Feminine

Neuter

Plural

Nom.

kein guter Wein

keine gute Milch

kein gutes Brot

keine guten Freunde

Acc.

keinen guten Wein

keine gute Milch

kein gutes Brot

keine guten Freunde

Dat.

keinem guten Wein

keiner guten Milch

keinem guten Brot

keinen guten Freunden

Gen.

keines guten Weines

keiner guten Milch

keines guten Brotes

keiner guten Freunde

The only difference between the adjectives used after
der words and the adjectives used after ein words is the masculine and
neuter nominative, and neuter accusative. The rest of the endings
are the same. For adjectives that are not preceded by der or ein words,
you must use the strong endings below:

Independent Adjectives (Strong Endings)

good wine

good milk

good bread

good friends

Masc.

Fem.

Neu.

Plural

Nom.

guter Wein

gute Milch

gutes Brot

gute Freunde

Acc.

guten Wein

gute Milch

gutes Brot

gute Freunde

Dat.

gutem Wein

guter Milch

gutem Brot

guten Freunden

Gen.

guten Weines

guter Milch

guten Brotes

guter Freunde

Notice that these strong endings are very similar to
the der word endings, except for the masculine and neuter genitive.

Verbs: Come, Go

to come - venir & kommen

to go - aller & gehen

venir

Present

Past

Future

aller

Present

Past

Future

French

je

viens

venais

viendrai

vais

allais

irai

tu

viens

venais

viendras

vas

allais

iras

il/elle

vient

venait

viendra

va

allait

ira

nous

venons

venions

viendrons

allons

allions

irons

vous

venez

veniez

viendrez

allez

alliez

irez

ils/elles

viennent

venaient

viendront

vont

allaient

iront

kommen

Present

Past

Future

gehen

Present

Past

Future

German

ich

komme

kam

werde kommen

gehe

ging

werde gehen

du

kommst

kamst

wirst kommen

gehst

gingst

wirst gehen

er/sie/es

kommt

kam

wird kommen

geht

ging

wird gehen

wir

kommen

kamen

werden kommen

gehen

gingen

werden gehen

ihr

kommt

kamt

werdet kommen

geht

gingt

werdet gehen

sie/Sie

kommen

kamen

werden kommen

gehen

gingen

werden gehen

Asking Questions

1. Yes/No Questions: In both languages, you can invert the subject and
verb to form a yes/no question. However, in French you must insert -t-
if the inversion causes two vowels to be together. Additionally in French,
you can keep the word order the same as in a statement, and just add est-ce
que to the beginning.

2. Questions with Interrogatives: If a question begins with a interrogative
word, you invert the subject and verb in both languages. Also in French,
you can add est-ce que after the interrogative and leave
the word order the same as in a statement.

3. Tag Questions: Even though there several tag questions in English
depending on the subject and verb (aren't you, isn't it, can't we, doesn't
he, etc.) there is only one in French and in German. In French, you can
add n'est-ce pas to the end of the statement and in
German, you can add nicht wahr to the end of the statement
to turn it into a question.

French: The main difference between English and French
is that adjectives generally are placed after the noun they modify instead
of before. In general, word order is subject - verb - object unless the
object is a pronoun. Then the word order is subject - object pronoun
- verb.

German: Word order in German can be quite confusing.
In general, the order is subject - verb - object. Unlike French, and
similar to English, object pronouns do not go before the verb, and adjectives
do not go before the noun. The verb is usually in the second position
of the sentence, except for yes or no questions. Other elements in the
sentence follow the order: time - manner - place. All infinitives and
participles go to the very end of the clause.

To make a sentence negative in French, you place ne before
the conjugated verb and the another negative word after the verb. In
German, there are two main negative words: nicht and kein.
You place nicht after a conjugated verb or the object
of the sentence and before an adjective. Kein is placed
before a noun if the positive counterpart has an indefinite article or
no article. Kein adds the same endings as other ein words.

The articles, adjectives and nouns that follow prepositions in German
must be put into the correct case.

Prepositions that take the Accusative case

durch

through

gegen

against

um

around

für

for

ohne

without

bis

until / to (with time expressions)

entlang

along (entlang is always placed after the noun!)

Prepositions that take the Dative case

aus

out (of), from (country, town or place)

mit

with, by means of (transportation)

von

from (person, open space, or direction), by

seit

since, for

bei

near, at, at home of or place of business

nach

after, to (cities and countries)

zu

to (mostly people and specifically named buildings)

gegenüber

across from

außer

except for, besides

Prepositions that take the Genitive case

während

during

trotz

in spite of

(an)statt

instead of

wegen

because of (in informal speech, the dative case is used)

außerhalb

outside of

innerhalb

inside of

Prepositions that may take Accusative or Dative

an

at, to, on (vertical surfaces, denotes border or limiting area)

auf

onto, on (horizontal surfaces), to (some public buildings)

hinter

behind

in

in, into (building, enclosed space, feminine or plural countries)

neben

beside, next to

über

over, above, across, about

unter

under, below, among, beneath

vor

in front of, before

zwischen

between

For the two-way prepositions: The accusative form
indicates direction and movement and answers the question where to? The
dative form indicates position and location and answers the question
where? For example: In die Schule means to school and
uses the accusative form because it is a direction. In der Schule means in
school and uses the dative form because it is a location.
But one exception is zu Hause - at home (dat.)
and nach Hause - (to) home (acc.) Ich bin zu
Hause is I am at home, and Ich gehe nach Hause is I am
going home.

In French, there are three main modal verbs: vouloir, pouvoir and devoir.
Pouvoir means to be able to, can, or to be allowed to. Vouloir
means to want (to) in the present tense and would like in
the conditional. Devoir means to have to or must in the present
tense, and should in the conditional. The regular verb aimer is
generally used for to like in French.

French Modals

pouvoir

vouloir

vouloir (cond.)

devoir

devoir (cond.)

aimer

je

peux

veux

voudrais

dois

devrais

aime

tu

peux

veux

voudrais

dois

devrais

aimes

il/elle

peut

veut

voudrait

doit

devrait

aime

nous

pouvons

voulons

voudrions

devons

devrions

aimons

vous

pouvez

voulez

voudriez

devez

devriez

aimez

ils/elles

peuvent

veulent

voudraient

doivent

devraient

aiment

When je peux is inverted to form a question, it becomes puis-je? May/Can
I?

In German, there are six modal verbs: Können means to
be able to or can. Dürfen means to be
allowed to. Müssen means to have to
or must. Sollen means should. Wollen means to
want (to). And the present tense of mögen means to
like, while the conditional form means would like. In
sentences with a modal and an infinitive, the infinitive must
go to the end of the sentence or clause.

The partitive exists in French only and it is the preposition de +
the article (or the contractions with de). It must be expressed with
positive quantities of something, such as food. Generally, it translates
as some, though it doesn't have to be expressed in English or
German. With the negative and expressions of quantity that end in de,
the partitive is not used.

The genitive case refers to possession, and is usually translated with
apostrophe s in English or "something de (of) something"
in French. With people, German can add an -s to the name to show posession,
but not an apostrophe like in English. Genitive nouns in the
masculine and neuter singular add -s if more than one syllable,
and -es if one syllable. However, in informal speech, von (of)
+ dative case commonly replaces the genitive case.